Hypnotherapists Take People Back to Childhoods, and beyond; Past Lives Workshop Designed for Those with an Open Mind, No Matter Their Beliefs

Article excerpt

When Neptune Beach hypnotherapist Niki LaMont hypnotizes clients, she often takes them back in time to their childhood or teenage years.

If they want to lose weight, stop smoking or deal with unresolved issues, it helps them to go back to when the problems began, she said.

When Ponte Vedra Beach hypnotherapist Jim Ryan began working with client Bob Harris, he took him back to age 6 to heal a childhood trauma.

But Ryan said that sometimes during hypnosis, people go further back, to what seems another lifetime.

While dealing with a strong emotion, "I say, tell me when you last felt like that," and "an emotional bridge takes them where they need to go," Ryan said. "Their voice or accent changes."

Whether or not they believe in reincarnation, that souls change bodies after death, "their experience is real for them," LaMont said. If it helps them heal, that's what counts.

LaMont and Ryan are teaming up to offer a three-hour workshop Saturday, Jan. 30, for people who want to explore possible past lives through hypnosis. No experience is necessary, only a willingness to trust and to be open to whatever unfolds.

The Past Lives workshop is set for 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Beaches Pain Consultants, 2433 Third St., Jacksonville Beach. The cost is $50 per person. Those interested can call Ryan at 280-4130 or LaMont at 241-5566.

Last fall, when the two Beaches hypnotherapists held a similar event, 19 people came. Ryan said most of them experienced themselves living in the past as someone else.

"They all had a story to tell," LaMont said. "Two people went back to Australia, two women regressed as men, one regressed as an Indian. There were many stories."

Reincarnation is part of some religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, although not conventional Christianity. Although participants in the last workshop stated they were Christian or Jewish, LaMont said that wasn't a conflict, because "it's not a prerequisite that you believe in reincarnation. You can come for the experience."

Harris said he was skeptical about hypnosis at first when he went to Ryan last fall. But he had a physical illness that doctors told him was beyond further treatment through conventional cures.

Ryan regressed Harris back to age 6, when he was misdiagnosed as having a terminal illness. By experiencing and observing himself at that age, Harris said he overcame a fear of doctors, has learned how to relax, has eliminated feelings of anxiety and depression and feels "wonderful, better than I've ever felt in my life."

When Ann Chapman of Jacksonville Beach went to see LaMont to stop a 42-year smoking habit, LaMont took her back to age 20, when Chapman said she started smoking, "to be part of the crowd."

LaMont then took Chapman a year into the future, so she could experience herself feeling confident, celebrating a year of being a nonsmoker. …